Vine and Vinegrower: Sixth Sunday of Easter
Happy Resurrection Day, friends! We’re in our final weeks of Eastertide and this week is a BIG ONE in the liturgical calendar. This Thursday, May 26 is Ascension Day which might be fairly familiar to you, but have you heard of the Rogation Days leading up to Ascension?
Read all the way to the bottom of today’s post to hear more about this little-known festival in the church calendar and one way we can mark these days together!
LOOK: Ascension (2021), Stephen Procopio - Source
LISTEN: Now the Green Blade Riseth, Steve Winwood - Lyrics | YouTube
I made our congregation a playlist for Rogationtide, and I’m happy to share it here with you, too: Apostles for the Beauty
READ: Isaiah 41:17-20; Psalm 148:7-14; 1 Peter 3:8-18; John 15:1-11
Daily readings:
Monday (5/15) Psalm 80; Psalm 77; Deuteronomy 8:1-10; James 1:1-15; Luke 9:18-27
Tuesday (5/16) Psalm 78; Deuteronomy 8:11-20; James 1:16-27; Luke 11:1-13
Wednesday (5/17) Psalm 119:97-120; Baruch 3:24-37; James 5:13-18; Luke 12:22-31
Ascension Thursday (5/18) Psalm 8, 47; Psalm 24, 96; Ezekiel 1:1-14,24-28b; Hebrews 2:5-18; Matthew 28:16-20
Friday (5/19) Psalm 85-86; Psalm 91-92; Ezekiel 1:28-3:3; Hebrews 4:14-5:6; Luke 9:28-36
Saturday (5/20) Psalm 87, 90; Psalm 136; Ezekiel 3:4-17; Hebrews 5:7-14; Luke 9:37-50
PRAY: Collect for Sixth Sunday After Easter, the Book of Common Prayer
O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen
DO: Share a photo-a-day to celebrate Rogation Days and Ascension with me this week!
We’re in our final weeks of Eastertide, and this week is a BIG ONE in the liturgical calendar. Thursday, May 18 is Ascension Day, which might be fairly familiar to you, but have you heard of the Rogation Days leading up to Ascension?
The Monday to Wednesday preceding Ascension Day is known as Rogationtide, a little-known festival in the church calendar that we can trace back to the fifth century. “Rogation” is derived from the Latin verb *rogare*, which means “to ask.” In the liturgies of Rogation Days, we ask the Lord to bless the fields, the crops, and the hands of the farmers who produce our food.
Worship on Rogation Days teaches us that we depend on God’s favor over his creation. We ask him for goodness over not just an abstract idea of our “land,” but the very real earth beneath our feet in our backyards, our neighborhoods, and whatever part of the earth our feet hit the ground.
As we’ve become a post-industrial society, the prayers for Rogation Days have expanded to include not only prayers for farmers and fishermen, but also for commerce and industry, and for all of us as stewards of creation.
Let's engage our world thoughtfully and prayerfully this week with another photo-a-day challenge.
Use the prompts as simply or creatively as you’d like, add the hashtag #practiceresurrection2023 and tag me @tamarahillmurphy (IG) or @TamaraHillMurphySpiritualDirectorandWriter (FB)!
I can’t wait to celebrate the beauty of God’s earth together this week, friends!
You might also enjoy:
Get Dirty: 3 Reasons Why We Should Observe Rogation Days by Jack King via Anglican Compass
Rogationtide: The Wendell Berry Days of the Church Year by Amanda McGill via The North American Anglican
Thanks also to Amanda McGill of The Homely Hours for freely sharing the Rogation Day Prayer Bunting printable for the “Create” section of this week’s guidebook!
You can read here for a brief description of the liturgical season of Eastertide, and see previous Eastertide posts here.
Sunday Scripture readings are taken from Year A of the Book of Common Prayer 2019 (Anglican Church of North America). Daily Scripture readings are taken from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer and include both Morning and Evening Psalms (Year 1)